Tyler, The Creator02.28.25
Vancouver, BC
It's been a slow start to the year on the live music side of things. But I can't think of a more exciting artist to start my year in live music -- Tyler, The Creator! I do think this is my most consequential show in Vancouver to date, rivaled in hype only by Sabrina Carpenter last fall. But this one had more going for it to me, at least from my perspective, with Rogers Arena being a superior venue to Sabrina's show at Pacific Coliseum, and me having been able to nab a GA ticket for Tyler's show.
The thing with Tyler is how remarkably consistent and prolific he has been over the years. Save for the three year gap between CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST and his most recent record, CHROMAKOPIA, he had been putting out new records every two years. He really came into his own with Flower Boy back in 2017 and has been finding new ways to reinvent his sound and image ever since. And with every record he puts out, you can expect an accompanying tour. I have seen him once before, back in 2022 for the CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST TOUR in Montreal, which was actually my first concert coming out of the pandemic.
This show started promptly at 7:30, beginning with support from hip-hop duo Paris Texas. Their alternative sound, similar to that of Jean Dawson, definitely makes them a great fit opening for Tyler. Lil Yachty was the second opener. He's always felt like a side character in hip-hop to me, with most of the work he's done that's stuck with me being tracks he's featured on, like DRAM's "Broccoli". But it was neat to hear "Minnesota" and "Poland", even if Yachty was really just bobbing along with his backing track.
With Tyler's set, my main takeaway was just how cinematic the production for this tour is looking. A lot more visually striking than what he had going on three years ago. Not that the CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST tour was any slouch; it just got its point across with flashy set pieces to go along with the aesthetic of the album. This here was heavy on the lighting effects, while the stage design was really effective in highlighting Tyler himself, drawing all eyes to him throughout the whole set. I loved how he actually performed on the catwalk that was set up to allow him to move between stages. It gave for some unique angles, and had the whole GA crowd scrambling around to position themselves for optimal sight lines as he prowled from one stage to the other.
Tyler's set was pretty much divided into three acts, starting with the first half of CHROMAKOPIA on the main stage. "Darling, I" is still my favourite cut. Moshing ensued as he played "Sticky" on the catwalk, showering the crowd with bills. Not sure if they were real or not; I was in the middle of the pit, alas I did not catch one.
On the B stage, he had a cute little living room set up with a record player, where he would go to a pile of records and pull out LPs of different albums from his discography before playing a couple cuts from each. Such a clever way of acknowledging each era from his career, which is getting quite substantial at this point. Loved hearing "EARFQUAKE", "I THINK", "Yonkers", "She", "I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE", "SORRY NOT SORRY", "Boredom"... the list goes on, he's just got so many classic tracks at this point.
Finally, he climbed back onto the catwalk with "Who Dat Boy" and "WUSYANAME", before returning to the main stage to finish off CHROMAKOPIA, while also taking care to play two of his crowd favourites in "See You Again" and "NEW MAGIC WAND" (more moshing for that one!). "Balloon" had some wonderfully colourful visuals. And "I Hope You Find Your Way Home" fittingly ended the show. No encore, but encores are tacky anyways. I'm sure Tyler shares the same sentiment.
All in all, another fantastic show from one of my favourite artists, one who has really become a defining artist of this generation in hip-hop.
